Catherine Nakalembe

So when I was in Madagascar, what I saw is everyday people

trying to have a meaningful life and doing their very best with what they have.

If you just observe the process of what they do on a daily basis, I can figure out where my tools can be useful.

I can create a really good map of cacao, a really good map of where rice is.

I can show to the farmers the contribution of cacao

But also, I can utilize what I've learned in this process to communicate to the outside.

Like, this is the reality of what a cacao farmer goes through.

They harvest every morning.

They have to take the cacao out of the pod.

They have to put it in the bins to start fermenting.

They have to then dry it, and then they have to weigh it.

And there's a whole records-keeping process.

And in that process, not only will you

Interact with the farmer, the person who does the dishelling, the one who will harvest the cacao.

You will talk to a company that works with them, buys cacao from them, the person who fixes the tractors that help them carry things.

You will experience the fact that when it rains, you literally have to take off your shoes and walk for like a whole kilometer to get to a place where you could just drive.

And then you experience the fact that because the weather is so unpredictable, the drying process of cacao is so painful.

But you don't want it to get wet because that ruins the value.

And so it's like all of these things that I wouldn't otherwise have access to if all I did was map tree loss.

You know, think about it as deforestation.